All Fall Down
by Nautica Dawn
Summary: When one link disappears, can the chain repair itself? With the disappearance of one of their own, the Rookie Nine and friends are left in shambles as the truth comes out and the shinobi are forced to reevaluate their lives./SasuHana\
1. Prelude: When the Dream Ends

_**All Fall Down**_

_Hikari Adams_

* * *

Disclaimer: Me no own.

Summary: When one link disappears, can the chain repair itself? With the disappearance of one of their own, the Rookie Nine and friends are left in shambles as the truth comes out and the shinobi are forced to reevaluate their lives. Companion fic to 'Black Ribbon'.

* * *

_Prelude _

_When the Dream Ends_

* * *

In hindsight, Hyuga Hanabi should have expected it. Haruno Sakura was too possessive of her freedom. She was the wild type that could never stay within the confines of a society that was so different than what she needed. 

Hanabi should have expected it, and she felt so childish as she thought back to her naïve days. Back then she had trained with the pink-haired medic endlessly. She was one of the precious few to spend enough time with her that she could know the fine details of the older kunoichi's life.

She knew that Sakura always ate peaches in the spring. She liked them slightly overripe, and she always ate in a clockwise direction around the fruit. She never cut it, and she never peeled it. She just ate the peach. She abhorred peppermint tea, but she loved spearmint tea with lemongrass. Hanabi knew that her guilty pleasure was actually lavender tea, and on occasion, marigold tea. She knew that Sakura actually preferred the night to the day, and she was not under any circumstances a morning person. The medic preferred treating children for sprained ankles and colds to the emergency room cases she normally dealt with. She knew that Sakura's favorite pastime was not training or whatever nonsense people came up with. It was standing atop Hokage Mountain with her eyes closed and listening to the wind's whispers.

Sakura was a complex person. She was like an onion, Hanabi had once thought. Once one layer was peeled back, there was another one that was even harder to understand.

It was as Neji once said: Sakura was like the wind. She could be gentle and loving one moment, and then cruel and vindictive the next. One could never know what side of Sakura was in charge at any given moment.

Hanabi thought she was more like a gem. She might have been a diamond, clear and sparkling, once. The Sakura that Hanabi knew, however, was more like amethyst. She was cloudy in some places, and clear in others, but one could never see all the way through. And then there were the facets. So many sides made up Sakura's personality. There was her fierce protectiveness of her freedom, and then of her comrades. There was her love and her wrath, her sorrow and her joy. In the decade that Hanabi had known the medic personally, she had seen so many emotions flit through those emerald eyes.

So maybe that was why she wasn't as surprised as she should have been. The melody played by the wind, fast and urgent, like the fleeing deer across the moors, had been the perfect backdrop to that rainy day in March. They were all gathered in the rain, under the watchful eyes of the six Hokage carved into the mountain that Sakura had loved to stand upon on windy and still days alike.

Maybe that was why she wasn't surprised when Nara Shikamaru made the announcement.

"At 8:44 A.M., Uzumaki Naruto-sama, the Rokudaime Hokage, declared Haruno Sakura a missing-nin. To all ANBU Black Ops, the order is this: Haruno Sakura, for the crime of treason, is to be brought back to Konohagakure to stand trial. A small team is to be assembled to investigate Haruno for evidence that will be used to decide her ultimate fate."

Maybe it was her understanding of Sakura that led Hanabi to request a place on the investigation team.

She had known Sakura for ten years, and she was just beginning to realize how little she really knew about the woman five years her senior.

* * *

A/N: It is done. The prologue of 'All Fall Down' is complete. Please forgive me for working on another 'Naruto' when I've still got two others that I need to be focusing on. I promise, by the way, that I am working on 'Snow' and 'Scarlet Flower', but I've already got about six chapters of 'All Fall Down' written already and I need to do something with those chapters. 

To those of you who read and reviewed 'Black Ribbon', I would like to thank you. It was partly your reviews that made me want to write a companion fic that explained Sakura's departure and the impact it had on Konoha.

_Your reviews fuel my eco-friendly imagination,_

_Hikari Adams_


	2. Chapter One: China Roses

_**All Fall Down**_

_Chapter One_

_China Roses_

* * *

"She didn't keep a diary," Hanabi explained while rolling her blank eyes dramatically, "You're her teammate, shouldn't you know all of this?"

"You trained with her for a decade, why didn't you know that she did keep one?"

Hanabi sighed. Working on an investigation of her favored senpai was not her ideal mission. Working with Uchiha Sasuke simply made it worse.

The two were standing at the poles of Sakura's bedroom, searching for various things that might hold clues to understanding the missing medic's mind. Hanabi had indeed been Sakura's shadow for ten years, and she could honestly swear that no diary had ever been present in her memory. Sasuke however, was swearing that Sakura had constantly written in a leather bound notebook.

"Are you sure about this?"

He glared, "Positive. I remember stealing it once on a dare from Naruto. The trap jutsu she set up when someone other than her opened it was a nasty invention. Unlike the idiot, I've still got the scars if you don't believe me."

"Who would have thought that you would have a sense of humor," she muttered darkly.

He shrugged, pulling a book off of a shelf, "It's that or wallow in despair. Right now I'm just trying to maintain my sanity."

Hanabi glanced over at the raven-haired man. He was not the way she remembered him from her youth. He was open and often found smiling and joking with his teammates. At twenty-three he had grown up considerably different than what most had expected of the Uchiha heir.

The Hyuuga girl wondered if this was more of Sakura's work. Had the medic used that weird ability of hers to erase the wounds of the past?

"This diary, what did you find in it?"

"Random things mostly, there was a lot of existential stuff. There were some poems or songs, I'm still not sure what it was," he flipped through the pages of the book, never looking her way, "There were also pictures. She'd drawn sketches of our lives together."

"Do you think there's really anything important in it?" she asked tentatively. Contrary to what the Uchiha had suggested earlier that day, she actually did know the missing medic quite well. Sakura was a secretive person. She wasn't someone to leave vital information about her in a place that was easily accessible, even if there was a wicked security jutsu in place.

Onyx eyes glanced up from the text in his hand to meet her lavender gaze, "Yes. It's probably written in code, but there's bound to be something there."

"Did you ever consider that she might have taken it with her?" Hanabi pointed out, "I know that if I were going to run away, I'd take something like that with me."

"Look me in the eye and tell me that she would have taken it," he challenged, "I know Sakura better than a lot of people believe. She left with a good reason, and it's not in her character to do something like that without leaving an explanation behind. If there is one, it's in that diary. She left it."

"Do you think Sai-san knows anything?"

"He might, but let's not bother him. This has got to be hard enough on him."

Hanabi chanced a glance out of the open bedroom door to see the enigmatic artist seated on the alizarin couch that dominated the white sitting room. Sasuke was right; the ANBU boy was bound to be suffering through the ordeal. He had lived with Sakura for several years before her defection and his home was being violated as the investigation team searched for answers.

She was also certain that to a degree, he blamed himself for her abrupt departure. Perhaps he thought that if he had seen it sooner then he could have stopped her from leaving. Maybe he was right. Then again, maybe Hanabi, or even Sasuke, could have stopped her. On the other hand, there was a good chance that nothing could have been done to change the outcome.

Sakura was gone.

The Hyuuga girl sighed and went back to searching through the boxes of papers and medical journals that had been stashed beneath Sakura's bed. It was all inconsequential though. Most of it would be of interest to Shizune or Tsunade, but Hanabi doubted that anyone else would understand the lingo of doctors. Hanabi herself understood a little of it, but Sakura had only just begun the lavender-eyed girl's training in the healing arts when she left. Still, it was easy to see that Sakura had made some major breakthroughs with her research.

Sasuke might be interested as well. The more Hanabi saw, the more she realized exactly what it was that Sakura had been studying relentlessly.

It was the Sharingan.

"_I'll Keep Your Memory Vague_," Sasuke called. When Hanabi gave him a confused stare, he held up the book, "It's a song she wrote in here (1). I've never seen a musical score this complex."

"I wasn't aware Sakura liked music that much."

He nodded, "There's dozens of melodies she's written in the margins of this book, but that's the only one that really sticks out. The lyrics are interesting."

She stood up straight, "Interesting? How?"

"Interesting in a way that suggests a departure has been weighing on her mind for a while now."

"What book is it in?"

He held up the tome, "_Wuthering Heights._ I think she picked it up from a trader while we were on a mission in Nami no Kuni (2) a few years ago."

Hanabi nodded and then surreptitiously knocked all of the medical reports about the Uchiha's bloodline into the box. She tipped the lid back on, muttering that it was full of documents she'd have to pass along to Tsunade. She dropped silently to the floor to check under the pristine bed of green and white to see if there was anything else. With her hands pressed against the hardwood floor to keep her body off the wood, she let her lavender eyes sweep under the bed.

It looked clear, until she noticed a darker shadow towards the wall. Her Byakugan activated instantly as she focused, seeing at once that it was a shoebox. She reached out with one hand, pulling the dusty container towards her. Across the top was Sakura's fine handwriting with the words: _I'm sorry._

Hanabi felt her heart fall a little with the realization that Sakura really had been planning her defection. Based on the amount of dust collected on the box, it had been a plan that was several years old.

She moved to sit up, leaning heavily against the bed with the box between her outstretched legs. Gingerly, she slid the lid off, lavender eyes taking in the contents.

The first thing she saw was the letter; it was Sasuke's name scrawled across the envelope. Hanabi set it aside for the Uchiha. Beneath it was a photograph of the reformed Team Kakashi with Sai and Yamato. She pulled it out, setting it to the side with the letter. It didn't escape her notice, as she stared at the remaining contents, that a picture of the original Team Seven was not among the other pictures. There was, however, a photograph of Sakura and a young girl resting on top.

The girl was unfamiliar to Hanabi. Her emerald eyes were bright, and her blonde hair was a stark contrast to the pink of the medic holding her. Both smiles were crooked and full of life, and the Hyuuga daughter wondered briefly who she was.

"Find something?"

Hanabi jumped in shock, spinning to face Sasuke. The Uchiha heir was spread across the bed while leaning over the edge and staring down at the shoebox.

He reached down and took the picture of the little girl with the sunshine hair from the box, "Do you know who she is?"

The lavender-eyed girl was surprised to hear the broken tone in his voice. It sounded dark and almost timid, like it was full of grief. She shook her head slowly, unsure of whether or not it was a story she wanted to hear.

His eyes, midnight black like the sky without the moon, were clouded with memory as he whispered, "Do you remember that mission that Sakura went on before she joined ANBU?"  
"Yeah, she was gone for a year and a half with you and Naruto-san."

Sasuke held up the picture, "Her name was Kaede. She was an orphan girl that Sakura treated for wounds consistent with abuse shortly after we arrived in the village we were surveying. When we found her, she had been beaten half to death by the villagers and been shivering in the basement of the house we were living in. She was mute, and she flinched every time Naruto or I walked into the room. She became Sakura's shadow. Over time, she began talking again and she began smiling. She stayed with us for an entire year, always sticking close to Sakura. I never knew exactly what their relationship was like, but I remember Naruto saying that they were like a mother and daughter.

"As it turned out, Kaede was actually the survivor of a rival village. She had been sold into slavery to the family that had owned the house before us. When they were killed while on a trip to Ame no Kuni (3), she was left on her own to survive in hostile territory. There was a rebellion in the next village over from where we were staying; we left Kaede alone when we went to allay fears of a civil war. At that time, we didn't know who Kaede really was. When we came back, our house had been bombed and she had been brutally murdered. Sakura was absolutely torn over it. Naruto and I speculated later that she had planned on bringing Kaede here to Konoha and formally adopting her. We tried to bring it up with Sakura, but by that time she had joined ANBU and we rarely saw her."

"Do you think Kaede-san may have had an impact on Sakura's decision to leave?" Hanabi asked carefully, unsure of just how the Uchiha above her had thought of the little girl with sunshine hair and springtime eyes.

He shrugged, "It's possible. I somehow doubt it though. Sakura got her revenge for Kaede's death. She was still hurt over what happened, but she seemed like she had moved on the next time I saw her after we came back."

Hanabi was almost afraid to inquire, but she was curious and so what if Neji always said she reminded him of a cat, "How did she get her revenge?"

Sasuke chuckled darkly, "Let's just say that if you were to look at an updated map, you would no longer find a little village about 300 kilometers south of Konoha."

He placed the picture aside, covering the yellowed letter addressed to him. Without a word, he reached around Hanabi and pulled out a red ribbon, the fabric frayed and stained with what looked like blood and tears. The eighteen-year-old kunoichi tensed, a trait shared by all shinobi when another person invaded their personal space. She was a little uncomfortable, sitting on the hardwood floor this close to someone she barely knew, and staring at a box of memories that she knew could condemn one of her most precious people to death.

"So that's what Ino was talking about," he muttered close to her ear, "I was wondering what she was rambling about this morning."

He tossed it aside lightly, reaching back to extract another of Sakura's secrets from the shoebox. Behind her, Hanabi felt the tension hit his muscles. His arm, reaching around her stiff shoulders, shuddered as his fingers held onto the worn fabric. The Konoha insignia was fading with age against the tarnish of the metal. The blue fabric had long since lost the navy coloration, changing to the washed-out blue threaded among the Uchiha's long fingers.

"Is this important?" she muttered, turning slightly in his direction, her lavender eyes never leaving the symbol of loyalty.

"It was mine," he answered softly, "I thought it would be gone, or that the idiot would have lost it by now."

She shifted to face him completely, "You mean this is from before your defection? Why would Sakura-senpai keep a memento of something that hurt her like that?"

"To remind herself of what she had come from."

Both Hanabi and Sasuke jumped apart, the Uchiha landing gracefully on the other side of the bed. Sai was standing at the door, staring blankly at the two.

"We're sorry, Sai-san," Hanabi apologized, standing up straight with a slight bow to her waist in a sign of respect, "We didn't mean to disturb you."

The former ROOT member shrugged nonchalantly, but Hanabi's trained eyes saw the weariness in his movements. She remembered asking once if the missing medic was involved with the artist on a personal level and Sakura had responded with a negative. To her lavender eyes however, it looked like he had wished for their platonic relationship to be anything but.

A pang of pity went through her. She knew that she was suffering, second-guessing everything and facing the lethal glares of the civilians, but she also knew that the older shinobi were suffering the effects as well. Sakura's disappearance was like a raindrop in a lake, sending ripples out that disturbed the peace and tranquility. Sai, whether he had known it or not, had lost someone he loved. Naruto, Shizune, Hinata, and so many others had lost a sister. Kakashi had lost a niece. Tsunade was a childless mother once more. Konohamaru had lost a favored aunt. Sakura had been their family, she realized, and an integral part of their lives. Her disappearance was changing everything. They were like roses made of china, and they were slowly breaking apart.

"Sai-san, do you know why she would want to be reminded of that?"

The artist was silent for a few beats, "I think it has to do with the way she's grown. I remember overhearing some of the other shinobi of her class talking about her younger years when she was too weak to keep up with her teammates. Perhaps she wished to have a reminder of what she once was, and what she didn't want to be."

Beside her, Sasuke had stiffened. Hanabi made a mental note of that, sure that there was something more than what she and Sai knew to that story.

"Did she ever mention things she disliked about the village?" the Uchiha cut in.

"No. She mentioned people she was have problems with, but it was usually minor conflicts that smoothed over in a day or so."

"Sai-san, is there anywhere Sakura-senpai kept her other books? I know she had more than this," Hanabi spoke softly and politely, moving the conversation away from what felt like dangerous territory and gesturing to the bookcase that Sasuke had been searching at the beginning of the day.

He nodded hesitantly, "Down the hall and to the left. It's her study, but I'm not sure what you'll find in there."

Hanabi watched as he turned and left.

"We'll check it out tomorrow," her companion muttered, "Today, I think we should continue looking through the box, but somewhere secluded. If she was keeping a picture of Kaede in there, there's no telling what else she has hidden away in that box."

"But where? Konoha isn't exactly the best place to be for seclusion."

Sasuke turned towards her, a cross between a smirk and a smile playing across his face, "There are perks to being feared by most of Konoha."

* * *

A/N: I think I'll end this here.

_(1) I'll Keep Your Memory Vague_ is by Finger Eleven. It was one of the songs I listened to while writing this.

(2) Land of Waves

(3) Land of Rain

I would like to first extend a big 'Thank you' to my new beta, **Banira**! For those of you who haven't read her stories, they are all wonderful reads.

Now, a thank you to my reviewers: **Banira, SpeedDemon315, viic, Kinkatia, Hiei's Cute Girl, **and **Bobboky**

_Your reviews are the sunlight to my solar powered imagination,_

_Hikari Adams_


	3. Chapter Two: The Mask and the Mirror

_**All Fall Down**_

_Chapter Two_

_The Mask and the Mirror_

* * *

Hanabi felt like she was intruding in a sacred area.

From the elaborate 'Seven' scrawled across the white wall in a shock of shining navy blue paint, to the spotlessness of the ivory marble kitchen counter, to the myriad pictures surrounding that famed number. 

It was a place that she had only heard rumors about, a place that only Sakura and Naruto had been allowed entry to. 

It was the apartment of Uchiha Sasuke. 

There was a low table in front of a blue couch, just beneath the number of his squad. She was seated nervously on the edge of it, the shoebox of secrets in front of her. Sasuke was off in the adjoining kitchen. She could hear him moving about, and she could hear the sound of teacups hitting the counter and of the screeching whistle of a kettle. 

She couldn't bring herself to focus on him. Instead, her lavender eyes swept over the snowy carpet and the pearl walls covered in photographs. There was a ticking clock, which was dark blue she noted, to her right on the partial wall that separated the main room from the kitchen. From the wall was a counter, at which sat three stools. She wondered idly if one of them was specifically for Sakura.

The room was rather Spartan, but she hadn't been expecting anything different from the Uchiha. He may have grown into his skin, she mused, and opened up to the people around him, but he was still an Uchiha. The Uchiha were like the Hyuuga, they did not like knick-knacks. The room, she was surprised to note, was brightly lit from the window in the living room where she sat and the sliding glass door in the kitchen. It was bright, but it didn't distract from the gathering rain clouds that haunted the stormy March sky. 

When the china hit the wood of the table in front of her, she almost jumped. Sasuke was leaning across the table, placing the steaming teacup of painted blue porcelain to the side of the box, a second cup held in his other hand. His onyx eyes watched her carefully, almost in amusement. 

She couldn't resist, "Why did you bring me here?"

"I told you," he explained, taking a seat next to her on the downy couch, "This box is full of Sakura's secrets. There was a reason that she had them hidden under her couch. It would be best if we looked through it somewhere where the wandering eyes and ears couldn't meander their way over to us. No one will come here except Naruto, and he's too busy doing damage control with Hinata."

"What I mean is," she began again, the smell of cherry and honey assaulting her senses as he took a sip of his tea, "Why are you being nice to me?"

He froze for a moment. Sighing deeply, Sasuke set his teacup next to Hanabi's, and she saw for the first time that there was a golden dragon flying across the sea of paint on each cup. He sat up straight and leaned back against the arm of the couch, appraising the Hyuuga daughter carefully.

"Sakura," he finally said. His tone was curt, as if that cursed and blessed name was the only answer to the question. When she gave him a confused stare, he simply smiled distantly, a tinge of sadness marring his handsome features, "Sakura was willing to trust you, and she cared about you. That's a good enough reason for me to give you a chance. Of course, the fact that your sister is married to my best friend, who just so happens to be the Hokage, might have a part in it. But I swear that it's mostly because of Sakura's faith in you."

"How do you know she had faith in me? She abandoned me. Those who are cared for are not abandoned."

"She left me too," he pointed out, "And Naruto, and Tsunade, and everyone else that she cared about. I know the she had faith in you because she would praise you. I'd never heard her speak so highly of anyone before. She seemed to think that you have the power to revolutionize the Hyuuga in a way that Neji hasn't been able to since becoming the clan head."

"So you're willing to trust someone you've only met in passing once or twice before, simply because of someone else?"

He nodded, a warm emotion playing in the backdrop of his eyes. It was faint and gone in a second as he reached over and removed a mirror. It was circular and small, only about the size of his palm. The elaborate silver and gold design around the edge depicted a vine of burning leaves. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and Hanabi's breath caught at the sight. 

"I once found this, years ago," he muttered, "Sakura said it had been her grandmother's. It's apparently a family heirloom that outdates the village. She used to tell a story about her grandmother getting her leg caught in an animal trap, only to be saved by a handsome shinobi. Supposedly he gave her this mirror when they were courting. Sakura told me that this mirror was what had inspired her to become a kunoichi."

Hanabi reached over and gently took the small mirror from his hand. She turned it over in her own hands, so much smaller than his, and marveled at the way the light danced off of the burning vines. 

"It's beautiful," she whispered, "But why is it so clean? Something this old should be tarnished."

"She used to clean it obsessively. To be honest, I'm surprised she didn't take it with her."

Lavender eyes met their match in the reflection the mirror gave her, "Can I keep this? If we find her, I'd like to give it back to her."

"If we find her, she'll be coming home."

His voice was gruff and the tone suggested that that particular conversation was closed, but Hanabi heard the eddies of doubt in the lilting tenor. He didn't expect her to come back, she realized with a falling heart, and why would he? He had once been a missing-nin himself.

"Why did you come back, Sasuke-san?" she asked quietly, still holding the mirror tenderly in her hands, as if it were the most precious thing in the world, "If you didn't want to, then why did you return without accomplishing your goal?"

"If I say her name again, will that help?" he joked lightly, "Seriously? I had a team, when I was out there. After about a year or two of traveling and pointlessly fighting my brother, I stumbled across Sakura and Naruto camping. I hid in the trees, just listening to their conversations. The two of them sounded so happy, and I knew from previous fights that they were stronger than me. I guess I just realized that while I had lost one family, I had found another. I didn't need to kill Itachi just to find redemption from something that was never my fault. In fact, because of Itachi, all I was doing was chasing my ghosts around when I had flesh and blood family waiting for me to come home," he paused for a moment, "Then again, Sakura's punch could convince Naruto to give up ramen."

She ignored his attempt at forgetting the pain, "Have you given up on revenge? With or without Sakura-senpai's cruelty."

He laughed darkly, "No. If I had the chance, I'd still try to kill him. I'm just doing things the legitimate way now."

Hanabi went back to staring at the mirror as the two lapsed into silence. She wondered if the story about the shinobi was true, and she wondered why such a story would inspire Sakura to become a kunoichi herself. Had she ever stared at that mirror of gold and silver, wondering whether or not she had made the right choice? The lavender eyes staring back at the Hyuuga daughter gave no answer, merely more questions.

"I thought she'd gotten rid of this."

The amusement in Sasuke's voice would have been obvious even to a deaf man, and Hanabi dragged her attention away from the breathtaking mirror to stare at his find. It was unusual, she thought, that Sakura would have such a thing in with her most precious belongings.

It was a mask. 

The masquerade mask was of a design that Hanabi had never seen before. The black feathers that covered it were accented by shimmering gold outlining the feline eyes. At the upturned edges of both sides of the mask, solitary crimson feathers curved up and away. It was beautiful, graceful, and Hanabi had the slight inkling that it was also timeless.

"What is that?"

"A memory of another mission," he answered, "We had to go undercover to a festival in Iwagakure. It was a masquerade, thankfully, and we each had to find masks to wear. Naruto and I ended up with traditional masks, but somehow Sakura found this one. She never mentioned where she got it, but I remember the reaction when she stepped into the room."

Hanabi smiled nostalgically, "I can imagine. Sakura-senpai always did have a way of making a grand entrance."

He shook his head, "Not like this. She was dressed in this black kimono with red blossoms dancing along the edges, as if tossed by the wind. The obi was red, and I had never seen anything so…_red_. Not even blood could compare. She had dyed her hair black, and there was this onyx ribbon holding it all back," he held up the mask, "And then there was this. It seemed like the whole room froze when she stepped in. Overall, she was rather inconspicuous, but there was something about her that night that demanded attention. In the end, it was everyone's preoccupation with her that led to the success of the mission."

"She was amazing like that," Hanabi uttered, leaning over to gently take the feathered mask away from him, setting the mirror down on the table beside her untouched teacup, "She was like a storm in that respect. It's something commonplace, but when it arrives, you can't ignore it. You have to watch it because it is the most beautiful thing in existence, and it is the fact that it is both normal and exotic that makes it so hypnotic. Whether it is the flash of the lighting or the crash of the thunder, it always commandeers your attention."

She stole a sideways glance at her partner. Sasuke looked like he was far away from that room with the number of his life scrawled across the wall by an angel's hand. She knew how it was affecting her, losing the woman she had looked up to. In her mind, Sakura could do no wrong. Even as a missing-nin, there was nothing she could do to break the lavender-eyed girl's trust. She wondered idly if Sasuke was being reminded of the first time he had experienced the pain of abandonment. 

She wasn't old enough to remember, but Hinata was, and Hanabi had heard from her what the Uchiha heir was like before the massacre. He had adored his brother, and had viewed him as the perfect shinobi of the Leaf. Itachi was to Sasuke what Sakura was to Hanabi. Itachi had shattered his brother's visions of him with the brutal slaughter of their kin. That was where the differences ended, she decided. Sakura had done nothing wrong. There had been no murder, no theft, and no crime of any kind. The medic had simply vanished. Without the memories and mementos of her, it would have been as if Konohagakure had never known Haruno Sakura. 

The rain continued to lash across the glass door in the kitchenette as Hanabi looked closer at her companion. He looked just as young and handsome as he always had, but she could see the lines of weariness pulling at his slanted onyx eyes. She could see the way the edges of his mouth were turned down more than usual, away from the impassive face and into one that reminded her strongly of his brother's picture in the bingo books. She reached over and picked up the mirror once more, holding it in one hand and the mask in another. Her reflection stared out blankly at her, but she could not find the marks of age that seemed to be plaguing the boys of Sakura's squad in recent days. 

Just who was Haruno Sakura? Her mind began churning the answers in the maelstrom of her thoughts. Why was such a simple medic turning out to be such a mystery? Why was she having such an effect on the people of Konoha? 

The mask and the mirror didn't answer her. The relics of a life forsaken were silent, no longer full of the life that only Sakura could give them. Something tickled the edge of her memory as something sharp dug into her side. She set the remnants of the missing medic back on the table. Reaching into her brown coat, the one that she kept held around her body in the chill air of the apartment, she removed the yellowed letter addressed to the man next to her. She wordlessly handed it to him, watching with mild interest as he opened it.

His lips quirked in amusement as his obsidian eyes flickered over the page, "This is old."

"Come again?"

He held up the letter, "This is from the day after I defected."

"That is old," she remarked, "But what does it say?"

"Let's just say that Sakura's temper is a fickle creature."

"Oh," she muttered, remembering that sunny day so long ago with ease, "You should have heard her rant about that. I'd never seen her so angry before."

"Naruto said she was more heartbroken than angry," Sasuke whispered, still staring at the letter, "I guess this just shows how little we actually know about her. We see one emotion in the daylight, but we have no idea what goes on in the night. She could be depressed when we see her, and beyond furious when she's alone."

Hanabi shifted to pick up her tea, inhaling the cherry and honey scent before letting the sweet liquid run down her throat, "We saw a happy Sakura before she left, but what was she like when she was alone? Is that what you're asking?"

He nodded, "Something like that. We really do need to find that diary. Her drawings may help us more than anything. As I recall, she was very good."

"Why are you putting so much weight on the artwork?"

"Because, according to Naruto, it took Sai's sketchbook for them to really learn who he is."

"I see," she said softly, taking another sip of her tea, "Do you think that Sakura-senpai really hated Konoha?"

He silently folded the letter, sliding it back in its ancient envelope and letting it rest next to the open box before answering her, "I don't think she hated the people. I think it may have been the town itself. Something about the morals, or some common trait shared by all Konoha shinobi that she disliked. Contrary to popular belief, Sakura wasn't that social. She spent her spare time with a select few, but she never really wandered out of that circle."

"I don't think so," she murmured.

"Come again?"

She sighed heavily, lowering the dragon teacup away from her lips, "I remember Sakura-senpai speaking frankly about people a few times in the past. I also know that she seriously considered formally resigning from Team Seven."

"What?" he demanded, the alarm evident in his tone. She was mildly interested in the fact that while he was being forceful with the order, his lilting tenor voice, so much like crushed velvet, was always kept at a polite volume.

"She hated the way you guys treated her like she was too weak to be a real part of the team. I remember her complaining that you never let her fight, and that she was never given a fair chance to learn how to fight in training."

He looked like he was ready to flinch, "You're right. She snapped at us for it once. Naruto tried to reason with her, but she threatened us if we decided to cut her out of the action again."

"I doubt anything could really scare any of you into following orders from someone like Sakura-senpai."

Sasuke gave her a level stare, "Sakura had some rather vivid and imaginative ways to use a cheese grater and a spatula."

"So that's where Hinata got all of those ideas," she whispered in awe. 

His gaze turned curious, "I had heard rumors about a Hyuuga working for Ibiki, is that Hinata-san?"

She nodded, "And she's quickly gaining a reputation for being crueler than Ibiki-san and even more sadistic than Anko-sensei."

Sasuke shuddered, "I still can't believe Tsunade gave her a genin team."

"It was probably her way of making sure the elders suffered," Hanabi trailed off, her lavender eyes brightening with discovery, "What was Sakura-senpai's relationship with the elders like?"

He gave her a blank look, "She was the 'mini-Tsunade'. What do you think her relationship with them was like?"

"Not good," she muttered, "Is it possible that they did something without Tsunade-sama or Naruto-san knowing? 

"Impossible, I'd tell you why, but then it'd be a disaster," he explained monotonously, "And no offense, but I really don't want to face the Rasengan and Tsunade's fists all in one go."

"That bad?"

"Worse," Sasuke reached back into the box, "Trust me on this, whatever you are thinking, it is so much nicer than what they actually did."

His hand came back out of the box with a chain wrapped around his spidery fingers. An ornate key of tarnished silver vines hung at the end. It looked like it matched the mirror, Hanabi noticed. She wondered briefly what it could be to. She had never seen a lock that might match the key in the Uchiha's hand. 

He set it aside without a word, reaching into the box once more, this time returning with a small doll. Her porcelain skin was flawless, and perfectly painted with navy blue eyes to match her raven hair. Her kimono, a dark blue sea of silk with dancing petals of white across the fabric, was spotless and perfectly arranged. Hanabi thought the doll looked like an Uchiha.

His lips quirked, "I had wondered what had happened to her."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Mio," he answered softly, "It was actually a joke. Sakura once told me about a doll she'd had when she was younger, but had been broken during the Oto invasion. When I returned to Konoha, Sakura was one of the last to trust me again. I remember that it was her birthday, and I had been cleaning the prefecture. I stumbled across this in some old things of my mother's. I gave it to her to replace the one that had been broken because of me. She looked so happy that day. It was almost like things were back to the way they were before I left."

Hanabi remained silent and pulled out the last item in the box. It sat in her hand, the petals dried and browned, curling inward slightly. She could tell, through the age and shadows, that it had once been a vivacious blue, pale like lavender and bold like the sky. The stem was shriveled, but the thorns were still sharp, and one of them cut into her hand, drawing the crimson sin in a miniature cascade of droplets down her palm. 

It was a rose, and Hanabi knew that at one time, it had been that rare blue that was only found in Yukigakure. But the snowy little village held nothing for Sakura there, as far as the lavender-eyed kunoichi knew. She held it up silently to Sasuke, her eyes asking the question that did not pass her lips.

His own onyx eyes stayed on the rose, but she couldn't help but notice the way his calloused hands toyed with the sleeves of his navy shirt. He glanced up at her, his cobalt eyes full of nostalgia, as if asking whether or not she truly wished to know the story behind the dried flower that had been beneath Mio, the mask, and the mirror.

"Do you know where it's from?"

She nodded sharply.

"It was a mission just between us. It was shortly after I had returned, but before I had the chance to give her Mio. Tsunade had decided that the tension between us was too great for the dynamics of Team Seven to be repaired to their former grandeur. We were sent up north for training, and we ended up in Yukigakure. As we are old friends of the country's leader, we ended up being trained by some of their top shinobi. However, Sakura's attitude towards me didn't change. Finally, our sensei of the time noticed what was wrong, and forced us to go to the celebration in honor of the country's independence. I somehow ended up escorting Sakura, and because it is tradition there to give your date a flower to wear, I ended up giving her this."

Hanabi caught that there was something he wasn't telling her, but she decided not to push it. Sasuke was without a doubt more open than he used to be, but they were shinobi, and shinobi rarely gave out major details of delicate subjects. Instead, she pushed the chakra to her wound, closing it quickly before picking up her tea once more.

Sasuke wasn't telling her everything he knew about Sakura, but she wasn't telling him everything she knew. She thought that it was okay, for the moment. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that the investigation was going to dig up more skeletons than they could deal with.

* * *

A/N: I really liked this chapter. I don't know why, but I did.

A big thank you goes to my wonderful beta, **Banira**, for all her hard work!

For the reviewers, thank you: **SpeedDemon315, gare de lyon, SagaOfTheSolitaryKiwi, realityfling18, Spirit Seer, and Kinkatia**

_Did you know that the chapter fairy will leave a new chapter behind if she finds enough reviews?_

_Hikari Adams_


	4. Chapter Three: The Two Trees

_**All Fall Down**_

_Chapter Three_

_The Two Trees_

* * *

"So what have you found?"

Hanabi shifted nervously, but let her partner handle the question. Sasuke was just as grim as Naruto, the young Hokage, but he was also the best to give their report. Hanabi was afraid of bursting into tears, even with the stoic blood of the Hyuuga rushing through her frozen veins.

"There were writings in the margins of books, but nothing important. Underneath her bed a small box was found," Sasuke went to say more, but Naruto cut him off.

"Stop giving me an official report," he snapped, "This is Sakura-chan we're talking about. We're all friends in here, so please tell me what's going on without the ANBU slant."

"She was planning this for several years," the Uchiha responded sharply, "The mirror of the burning leaves, that red ribbon that Ino gave her, Mio, a picture of Kaede, that mask she wore in Iwa, a rather scathing letter to me about my defection, a photograph of the reformed Team Kakashi, a key without a lock, and a rose from that training mission to Yukigakure. Those were the items in the box."

Naruto sat up a little straighter, his sky blue eyes dimming from their usual liveliness, "Those are some of the most important things to her."

"The lid said 'I'm sorry'," Hanabi whispered.

The fox boy glanced briefly in her direction before turning back to Sasuke. Hanabi resisted the urge to flinch. She was a part of the investigation, but a part of her felt out of place in that office.

"How long?"

"We don't know yet, Naruto. Her diary is still missing."

Naruto sighed, "Sakura-chan always did know how to hide things. Any ideas as to where she might have gone?"

Sasuke shrugged, "My first guess would be where Kaede was, but Sakura wiped them off the map. Beyond that, I can't think of anywhere where she'd find something familiar and comforting."

"I'll send an intern with Sakura-chan's records. Maybe there's something in there from a solo mission she was on. She did spend nearly three years on her own, and then I was gone a lot during the time you were still away. It's possible that something happened during those missing years."

"We're heading to her apartment next," he motioned towards the small Hyuuga behind him, "Sai's already told us that we can go through her study."

The young Hokage nodded, "I should probably go by there sometime and check up on him. I wonder if he's taken down her painting yet."

"Painting," from where Hanabi was, she could see the confusion marring the Uchiha's brow until comprehension dawned, "Oh, that's right. Sai painted the two cosmos, but she painted the zinnia."

Hanabi gave up on understanding their conversation. Instead, she let her lavender eyes wander to the pictures that filled the bookcase to her right. She knew from her sister that Tsunade's final act as Hokage had been to defy the council and inform the Rokudaime of his heritage. It could be seen from the framed photographs that it was something important to him.

The top shelf was full of ancient pictures. The wrinkled and faded images stared back at her warmly. The stunning woman with the wine red hair and the handsome man with sunlight locks and ocean eyes smiled in each picture, not knowing the tragedy that was laying in wait for them and their son as they posed for the camera. One even held an older man, aged like a fine chardonnay, with a mane of snowy white. She tried not to look at the ruby-haired woman sitting in the rocking chair in the ebon frame to the far right of the shelf. Her tender smile and look of pure joy was too much as she sat in the nursery that would never be used.

Hanabi felt a pang of loneliness in her heart. They looked like a family, even though Jiraiya was of no real relation to Namizake Minato or Uzumaki Kushina, he looked like he was still a part of their little family. They looked like they belonged right there, standing next to each other without a care in the world. She had always wondered what that would be like, to have a family that truly loved each other. Her own family was a far cry from what Naruto had lost. The Hyuuga didn't smile, and they certainly didn't care about each other. Her own mother was said to have been a very loving person, but she had died the night her youngest daughter was born.

The second shelf was of the patchwork family Naruto had made for himself. The first picture was of a young and innocent Team 7, their faces showing only childish concerns instead of the drama of betrayal that seemed to haunt their every breath. The next was of a scowling Sasuke, his cobalt eyes glaring at the photographer as if he could kill them with a single thought. Beside that, in a frame of pristine white, was a crisp picture of the three children in the winter, all bundled in their coats and scarves. She noticed that Sakura was smiling, but a closer look revealed shadows in her jade eyes. There were others, but the one that caught her attention was on the third shelf.

It was a picture of Sakura alone in the summertime. Her pink hair was still short and choppy, blowing wilding in the wind of a rising thunderstorm. She was seated on a fence post, dressed in her normal red shirt and white medic's skirt over forest shorts. At a glance, it looked normal, but Hanabi saw the difference.

She looked alive, like the camera couldn't even begin to capture all the life in her at that moment. Her green eyes were darker than usual, but fierce and untamed in their depths. Her skin, porcelain like a doll's, was glowing as if she were made of fire. Her cherry blossom hair was tangled like a symbol of the very wind that controlled it. She wasn't smiling, but it didn't change the fact that she looked so much happier than she did in the other pictures.

She looked like she herself was the thunderstorm, instead of the rolling ash clouds above her head.

"Hanabi!"

She jumped slightly, turning to face the two men in the office with her. Naruto was still at his seat behind his desk, his sapphire eyes downcast. Sasuke stood at the door, one foot in the hall outside. He beckoned for her to follow him, and with a small nod to the young leader, she did.

The two walked in silence. She tried to ignore the fact that the rolling thunderclouds above Konoha were reminiscent of the ones that Hanabi was sure made up a portion of Sakura's soul. Sasuke clearly wasn't in the present at the moment, but he led the way and she simply followed, her own mind wandering.

Sasuke had said to Naruto that he had no idea where Sakura may have gone, but Hanabi had a few ideas. Sakura was in love with the natural world, she always had been. She would want to be somewhere close to her heart. She wouldn't be in a city like Konoha, where steel and cement ruled. She was likely in a small farming village, the Hyuuga thought, somewhere where she could walk around and feel the grass gently caress her feet as she moved. She would be somewhere where the smell of the trees and the flowers, or of any water nearby, would not be overshadowed by the putrid stench of the city.

She would be somewhere where a shinobi could disappear forever.

Hanabi took another step, but a strong hand wrapped itself around her arm, stopping her from moving forward.

She glanced over her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Sasuke-san. I wasn't paying any attention."

He said nothing, but let his hand slide away from her arm as he knocked on the familiar door. Sai granted them entrance, but said nothing to them as he vanished back into the deep abyss of his studio.

"So it's still here."

Sasuke's voice, feather soft and deep like only the ocean could be, pulled her away from her reverie. She followed his gaze to the white wall above that alizarin couch. Three paintings clung to the wall. The two on the left and the right were all sweeping blues and whites, the cosmos blossoms taking form somewhere in the breathtaking rivers of paint. The one that demanded attention, however, hung inconspicuously in the middle.

The canvas was white, only to explode in hundreds of petals or perhaps they were the tears of the sun. It was a supernova of brilliant reds and oranges, the tangerine bloom taking form somewhere in the nuclear reaction. It was a zinnia, she saw. She didn't quite understand how she recognized the flower, but she did, and that was all that mattered.

"Sakura-senpai made that?" she breathed.

The Uchiha beside her nodded curtly, "Yeah. I never understood why she painted a zinnia, though."

"What do you mean?"

"As far as I knew, the zinnia had no meaning for her," he answered softly, "Her favorite flower was the orchid, and the cosmos came from Ino's influence on her life. But the zinnia had nothing to do with her life."

Hanabi forced her frosted lavender gaze away from the mesmerizing portrait to look at her partner, "Perhaps there is a meaning that you never knew. Sakura-senpai is a complex person. Trying to understand her completely is like trying to catch a ray of starlight. No matter what you do, it will always slip out of your grasp. You can only understand so much, but there will always be questions that should never be answered."

"You've been distracted today."

"I don't want to go with you when you give reports to Naruto-san."

His expression was one of confusion when he met her level stare in front of the picture of ordered chaos, "Non sequitur."

She shook her head, her chocolate locks blending in with her mocha coat, "That's not what I mean. I felt like I was intruding on a family meeting or something. It's too personal and I'm still too much of a stranger."

"Technically, you are family."

She sighed, her thin fingers toying with the hem of her violet shirt, "I know that Naruto-san is my brother-in-law, but that doesn't matter. Sakura-senpai was a different kind of family for the two of you, and I was never a part of it. I have no place among your meetings with Naruto-san."

Hanabi tensed when a rough hand, much larger than her own, landed on her head. She could feel the fingers threaded through the brown strands, and she could feel the gentle warmth of his palm against her scalp. She felt a different heat creep up her neck and across her face, the blush burning bright with the feeling of being a small child in trouble.

Her father had never treated her like a child. No one had ever treated her like a child. She was eighteen at that moment in front of Sakura's painting, and she felt like a child.

Her lavender and cream gaze flickered over to meet cobalt ash, "Sasuke-san?"

"Hanabi, I'm sorry if things felt a little tense today, but you should keep coming. Naruto and I will probably keep talking about things in the past, and things that might happen in the future. You can give a different perspective to some of those things, and that may help with the investigation. You knew a side of Sakura that she kept hidden from us."

Her blush increased as a minute amount of fury crept up, "Sasuke-san, I assure you, I understand fully what the meaning of a different perspective is and how it applies to this investigation. However, I would still like to be left out of any future meetings with Hokage-sama. If my comments are not going to be regarded in that office, then I have no place in there."

His lips quirked up in a cross between a smirk and a smile, but those pools of cobalt bleeding black were too nostalgic for the expression to be anything but heartbreaking, "He didn't mean anything by it, Hanabi. Naruto's under a lot of stress right now. Sakura's abrupt departure has caused some problems, and he has to vindicate her while keeping the council from ordering her death. It's a delicate situation."

She huffed, "That gives him no right to ignore me like that."

He didn't respond. Instead, he ruffled her hair in a familiar manner before letting his hand fall to her wrist, his scarred and calloused hand creating a cuff around her slender arm. He tugged lightly, pulling her down the hall to the white door that Sai had indicated the day before as Sakura's study.

For the second time since beginning the investigation, Hanabi felt like she was trespassing on sacred grounds.

Sakura's office was a stark contrast from the tangerine and snow theme of the main room. Her walls were not white, but instead a marbled blue. The Hyuuga daughter couldn't decide if it was meant to be the sky or the ocean. Dried herbs hung from the ceiling, while the emerald leaves of thriving plants blanketed the sills of the two windows. Her furniture was the color of the terracotta pots that Hanabi could see beneath all the flora in the study. A modest desk, buried beneath plants and books, sat between the two windows opposite the door. Every other wall was lined with shelves overflowing with books.

Her study was alive, Hanabi decided as Sasuke moved to the taunting bookshelves. She let her feet guide her to the desk, her spidery hands finding the small terracotta paint and leafy fabric concealed within the shadows beneath the small table.

Rain lashed the windowpanes, and occasionally thunder would rattle the glass with its terrible might. From where she was, Hanabi could see the quickly flooding streets of the city below, and the overflowing river that cut through Konoha's heart.

Was the flood trying to erase the sins of the city? It would take a lot more water than that, the Hyuuga daughter thought. Their sins were indelible, and they ran too deep for a minor flood to wash away. Even if the sky's howling tears were so great in number that she could barely see the river without the Byakugan, she knew that nothing could redeem the shinobi. After all, there had been enough blackness to chase away the captivating light of the summer sun in favor of a kinder environment.

Had Sakura left because she knew they were beyond help? She had been the greatest healer to exist; even Tsunade had conceded that fact. Was it possible that as her nature dictated, that wounded incarnation of spring had tried to save them from themselves? Had she deemed them a lost cause and left because she knew she was not needed?

No, that was impossible. Haruno Sakura would always be needed, and that was something that even the pink-haired medic had to have known.

"Hanabi?"

She jumped slightly as the velvet slid around her ears, "Yes, Sasuke-san?"

"You've been spacing out all day, perhaps you should go home."

Home. She shivered involuntarily, hoping that her partner wouldn't notice. Home was still in the Hyuuga compound for her, the youngest of Hiashi's daughters. Home was also a place that was colder and emptier than the abandoned room in Sakura's wounded image of a home.

She forced a smile, thankful for once that her eyes of lavender winter were incapable of showing emotion, "I'm sorry, Sasuke-san. I was just wondering what must have been going through Sakura-senpai's head as she sat here and watched the rain."

"Try finding something a little more substantial. Don't forget that we're trying to save her life. Unless we find something incriminating, Sakura will only be put on probation."

"Then why don't we lie?" she asked, "If we do find something bad, can't we just pretend it was never there?"

"I wish we could, but there's a good chance that the elders will be looking for something to give them the excuse to kill her. If we were to hide something, they would find it after we were gone," he replied darkly, the velvet churning with spite and a familiar hatred, "Naruto could probably lie to them, but he'd be putting too much at risk. The most we can hope for is that Sakura knows how to avoid us for the rest of her life."

An image of the Hyuuga elders flashed through her mind, the memories of frozen blood and weapons of mass destruction in the form of simple words making her ill, "Why do we even need elders?"

Sasuke closed a book behind her, the thump resounding throughout the silence that was only cut by the pitter-patter of the infinite needles and the booming drums of the sky outside. She heard the feathery sound of the tome sliding against wood as he replaced it, only to draw another volume off of the shelf. She had decided that he was never going to answer her treasonous question when he finally spoke in tones of dusty and faded silk, "I don't know, Hanabi, I really don't know."

It was the last comment of the day as Sasuke found another book and Hanabi finally pulled open a drawer. Amid the pens and pencils, she wondered if that was how it started. Had Sakura had thoughts like that before she left? Did she begin to question the machine?

As a shinobi, Sakura was trained to never question authority, just like Hanabi was trained. As a shinobi, the word of the Kage and city elders was law. There was no room for questions. Questions meant death. It was a vicious, vicious rule, but it was the rule. Hanabi was a Hyuuga, and a Hyuuga never went against the rules. That was why Hinata had been cast aside as the heiress. That was why the clan sent dark looks in Hanabi's direction. That was why Hiashi's name was cursed within the compound. That was why there were myriad brushstrokes of raised and rosy flesh, painted by a demon's hand, criss-crossing Neji's back.

Asking whether or not they needed the elders was far removed from the code of conduct Hanabi had grown up with.

Had Sakura broken the same code? Had she wondered why the giant that was Konohagakure kept malfunctioning? Had she found some spot of rust, or a loose part, on the machine? Was there something more to the great city of Konoha, beyond what Hanabi could see out of Sakura's partially covered windows?

Was that why, as Sasuke had said, that Sakura cleaned her mirror of burning leaves obsessively? Did she think that if she removed all of the imaginary grime that it would finally show her the truth? Had she reached that point? Was that what led her beyond the city gates? Had Sakura's mirror finally shown her what lay in wait beyond the veil of life?

A stray thought crossed the expanse of Hanabi's mind.

What would she do if Konoha ordered Sakura's death?

* * *

A/N: Fin. It was shorter than I wanted, but it was the perfect place to leave it.

First, a big thank you goes to my wonderful beta **Banira**!

Other thanks goes to: **PeculiarlyOrdinary, SpeedDemon315, gare de lyon, SagaOfTheSolitaryKiwi, Kinkatia, **and **Spirit Seer**.

_Reviews—the cure for the common cold._

_Hikari Adams_


	5. Chapter Four: Silver and Cold

_**All Fall Down**_

_Chapter Four_

_Silver and Cold_

* * *

The Hokage's home was silent as Hanabi walked into the sunny living room and sat down on the pale green couch, her lavender eyes staring blankly at the pictures on the sky blue wall. Hinata had undoubtedly refused to let her husband decorate. The room seemed bright and calm, even with the only light coming from the storm-ridden sky outside. It was everything the Hyuuga compound was not.

Hanabi sighed. When Sasuke had dragged her to the meeting with Naruto, she hadn't been happy. When the young Rokudaime had all but ordered her to visit her estranged sister, she was less than enthusiastic.

To say the Hyuuga sisters got along would be the same as saying that Itachi and Sasuke were caring brothers.

Hinata was the tragically beautiful elder child, the spitting image of their mother and their father's secret favorite. Hanabi was the wallflower of a second child. She was talented, but her father had pushed her to be perfect.

She had to be the perfect kunoichi so her sister would be spared the horrors of the battlefield. She had to be the perfect daughter so Hinata would be spared the clan's scrutiny. She had to be perfect so Hinata could be flawed.

And then Hinata had to go and beat her at her own life.

Hinata became the protégé of Morino Ibiki. Hinata was the Hokage's wife. Hinata united the Hyuuga clan into one family. Hinata's name was known around the world. Hinata had inspired painters and poets alike. In short, everyone adored Uzumaki Hinata.

Hanabi was the protégé of Haruno Sakura, the deserter. She was unmarried, and she had no intention of fixing that, much to her clan's chagrin. Hanabi had been out of the country when her family was united. She was unknown to the world, only mentioned as the small girl in purple and brown seen at the traitor's side. She was just another Hyuuga in a sea of many white-eyed shinobi. She wasn't the heart-wrenching beauty her sister was, and no artist saw the need to praise her ordinary appearance. Hanabi was the forgotten child.

Her lavender eyes wandered over the baby blue walls, glancing momentarily at the photograph of her smiling sister dressed in the elaborate kimono she had worn just two years ago. Hinata had made such a beautiful bride that sunny day in April. The very elders who had treated her with such disdain had fawned over the indigo beauty. Hanabi, not for the first time in recent history, had been shoved to the back, forgotten about in the hustle and bustle of the wedding.

Hanabi sneered slightly, trying to beat down the darkness in her heart. When Hinata had finally bloomed, she just cast yet another shadow over her sister's life.

"Hanabi?"

The glacial eyes of lavender flickered to the door to meet a curious gaze of winter lilac.

"Hinata," she answered monotonously, "Your husband sent me while he speaks with Sasuke-san about the investigation."

The elder Hyuuga nodded, moving to the open kitchen to place her groceries on the marble counter before turning to her sister, "How are you?"

"Well, and you?"

Hinata pursed her lips, "That's not what I meant, Hanabi. I know you were close to Sakura-chan. I want to know how you are in terms of her disappearance."

_Disappearance_. Hanabi inwardly flinched. She knew Hinata had looked up to the medic, but she also knew that the indigo-haired kunoichi harbored some jealousy against her former comrade. Saying 'disappearance' was simply a disguised insult in Hanabi's mind. Sakura was too good to go missing.

She had simply relocated.

"I'm fine," she replied blandly, "Being a part of the investigation is helping."

It was a lie as bold as the sun, and Hanabi wanted to know if her star of a sister would call her on it.

"Oh," Hinata said, just as blankly as her sister had intoned, "That's good. I know Naruto-kun isn't taking it well. How is Sasuke-san doing?"

"Fine."

"That's good."

The two lapsed into silence. Hanabi stared again at the picture of Hinata's wedding, secretly trying to set the photo of the perfect bride aflame with the intensisty of her glare. Hinata simply hummed a merry little melody as she put her groceries away.

"Is that all you're going to say?" Hanabi finally asked, her voice as soft as a puppy's fur.

"Would you reply honestly if I were to say more?"

"Perhaps."

Hinata sighed, "Why must you be so childish, Hanabi?"

She turned to face the elder Hyuuga, "Why are you so hard to hold a real conversation with?"

"You're the one being unreasonable," Hinata pointed out quietly, yet her delicate and flute-like voice was as stern as the midday sun.

Hanabi smiled ruefully, "And Neji-nii always wondered why I adored spending time with Sakura-senpai."

Hinata snapped, her tiny hands slamming against he counter, "Yes, I know! She was more of a sister to you than I ever was! She was the perfect human being! I get it!"

When her sister's mini-tirade ended, Hanabi fought the urge to smirk. It seemed that after all of her growth, she still hadn't escaped the jealousy of her youth. Hinata still had the remains of an inferiority complex buried in her guarded heart.

The younger sister deflated slightly as the elder's words sank in. She mumbled something incoherently as she sank into the couch, no longer meeting the lilac eyes of winter life.

"What was that, Hanabi?"

"I said I didn't see her as a sister!"

The words weighted the air down like snow starving the lightening, but allowing the thunder to cry.

"What?" Hinata asked, her voice softer than before.

Hanabi shifted, staring intently at her feet, "When I was with Sakura-senpai, I felt safe. It was like everything would be okay as long as she was there. I could be a kid around her, and she wouldn't judge me. She never judged me. When I'd fight with Dad, she'd let me stay in her spare bedroom. She'd make sure I was fed and she'd take care of me. When I was with her, I didn't see her as a sister. To tell the truth, I always wondered if being with Sakura-senpai was what having a mother felt like."

She heard her blood sister move, and Hinata was soon crouched beside the younger kunoichi, "Hanabi, I'm sorry. I was out of line earlier."

Her anger flared, "Stop being so damn polite! This is part of why I've never liked you. You always treat me like I'm one of our snobbish cousins. I am Hanabi before I am Hyuuga, so stop treating me like one of them!"

"How did I miss it?" the indigo-haired woman smiled softly, "How did I miss the transformation from that fragile porcelain doll to the strong young woman before me?"

"Well, by treating me as if I didn't exist may have had something to do with it," she snarled.

Hinata flinched, "You're right. I was never much of a sister to you because I never tried, and I'm sorry."

"You blamed me for Mom's death, just like Dad."

"And I won't deny it," she replied easily, "I know I did, and I'm ashamed of it now. I should have tried to get to know you. Mom died giving you life. She made the ultimate sacrifice for you. I should have respected that and tried to cherish the being that she loved enough to die for."

The tears that Hanabi had tried to hold back began welling up, the inner rain drowning her indignation, "Sakura-senpai didn't even know me. When she found me after that fight with Dad when I was eight, she wasn't obligated to help me. I was a complete stranger, and yet she let me have half of her lunch, and she listened to all of my complaints with the patience of an oak tree."

"That sounds like her," the Rookie 9 alum seemed to recall something pleasant before she returned to the topic at hand, "I can't even begin to imagine what this must be like for you. I remember how hard it was when Mom died, and she was my real mother. But you had to find a mother in someone else. That's a different, yet similar, and stronger bond. For you, this must be harder than it was for me when Mom died."

Hanabi shook her head, "It's different. Sakura-senpai is still alive. I can still see her if she'll let me."

It was Hinata's turn to shake her head, "You don't understand, Hanabi-chan. This is harder for you because Sakura-chan is still alive. She willingly left you. That's a betrayal of the worst kind. I think I can understand now why Naruto-kun spent so long arranging the investigation teams to have you paired with Sasuke-san. After Itachi, he must think that the two of you will understand better than anyone how to help the other through this."

"Perhaps," she admitted, "I lied earlier."

"I know."

Hanabi ran a hand through her hair, "This is so hard to watch. I don't even want to think about what I must look like. I see Sasuke-san, and it hurts so much. This is tearing him up, even if he doesn't show it. He'll make little jokes, and act perfectly fine, but he's not."

"Naruto-kun doesn't like to show his pain either," the elder spoke softly, reaching out to place her hand on her sister's shoulder, "We're shinobi. Pain is considered to be a taboo in our lives. We're not supposed to have emotions. Sasuke-san knows this better than most. You know this better than most. I know it too."

The younger laughed, the sound harsh and dark as her face disappeared behind her hands, "So what are we supposed to do in these situations? If we can't show emotions, then what are we supposed to do when we're betrayed and abandoned? Just pretend it didn't happen? What are we supposed to do when our loved ones die? We're human too, and yet we're not supposed to mourn for those that we have lost? What kind of sick world do we live in that we are denied the most basic of human rights? The closest thing to a mother that I ever had is likely to end up with a death sentence over her head, and I'll be sent to hunt her down. I'm supposed to just carry on like nothing is wrong? Just what the hell is that about?"

Somewhere in the middle of her rant, Hanabi had stood up, pacing the room as Hinata remained crouching on the floor, her lilac eyes following each step of her sister. As the younger finally quieted down, the elder sighed and moved to sit on the couch.

"We're shinobi, Hanabi."

She sneered, "Yes, you keep saying that. Excuse me for not seeing the obvious."

"You don't understand," she sighed, iced lilac eyes closing, "As shinobi, we are not seen as human by the rest of the world. We are like a silver necklace. They see us as beautiful and graceful, and so very valuable, but forever cold against the warmth of life. If we begin to show emotion, then we become human in their eyes. They won't be able to send us out on the horrible missions that we are if we become like them. We are, but for them it's better if they don't see us that way."

"That doesn't make it right," Hanabi protested, "If anything, that just makes it worse. We're not some lowlifes that can be treated like that. We have families that we fight so hard to protect and return to. We have hopes and dreams, just like everyone else. We're no different from them."

Hinata bit her lip, almost as if she were trying to find a softer way to say something. Her lilac gaze met their match in lavender as she began to speak quietly, "You know this and I know this. In fact, most of the shinobi community knows this, but the outside world doesn't. Even the civilians here in Konoha can't comprehend that we are human too. I know this doesn't justify their views, but believe me when I say that their views make life easier all around."

Hanabi took a step away from her sister, something akin to disgusted pity lacing her words, "How can you say that? You have a husband; don't you try to come home to him after every mission? How can the view of us as monsters be a good thing? So what if that's what keeps missions coming our way, it makes things harder. I'm sick of walking into civilian areas and receiving looks that range from revulsion to hatred. It's to the point that I can no longer tell if people hate me because I'm a kunoichi or because I'm a Hyuuga."

"It's not something you should bother with, Hanabi."

She froze, her eyes focusing on the rolling clouds beyond her sister's window. The wind had twisted a flag around its pole, and the leaves trembled in the war against the howling tempest. Her thoughts wandered to the incarnation of the brutal storm, and of how she was faring in the capricious weather of the season.

"Sakura-senpai bothered," she whispered, "She bothered with it, and look what has happened. So tell me, my dear sister, whether or not it is me you are protecting from the village, or are you protecting the village from me?"

Hinata was silent, but when she answered, her voice was the iron that painted the soil like rust, "Both, if I have to."

"This is why I've always hated you, Uzumaki-san," Hanabi remained quiet as well, her voice staying calm and pity danced around the syllables like the leaves in the thunderstorm's cry, "You always put the village first, if you had to. That's why I don't like the shinobi community, I think. We always put the village first. The one time that a shinobi put his loved ones first, we demonized him to the point that he found more solace in suicide than he did in his own family. You're actually going to protect that from one person? I'm powerless here. I'm the Hokage's sister-in-law, but I hold no sway over him. I've met the man maybe three times, and always in passing. I hold no power within the Hyuuga, because I'm nothing more than a painful reminder of a past everyone wants to forget."

"Then perhaps you should retire from being a kunoichi."

The younger laughed harshly once more, a potent mixture of malice and madness gliding through the air with the sound, "Don't throw my own words back at me. What happened to you, Hinata? I remember the little girl who cried when Neji-nii was whipped after lashing out at you. I remember the girl who couldn't speak without stuttering. Now you throw my own insults back at me, and you have the audacity to assume that you understand me."

Lilac eyes narrowed dangerously at her sister's back. The glare could be felt like a chilly block of ice sliding down her spine. Somewhere in Hanabi's mind, she was reminded of just what the elder Hyuuga was capable of as Morino Ibiki's protégé. Hinata's creativity with household items as torture devices may have stemmed from Sakura, but she had taken it to a whole new level. Uzumaki Hinata was considered the nightmare that the hellion of the Hyuuga, Hanabi, never was.

"I am older than you, Hanabi," she began slowly, her flute-like voice dropping to the scale of a clarinet, "I have seen more than you could ever dream of seeing. Unless you have forgotten, my generation was on the frontlines when the Akatsuki war hit its height. I have worked in the depths of this business longer than you have been a real kunoichi. Do not tell me that I can't understand this. And do not bring up my past. That little girl is not who I am anymore, nor are you Daddy's little favorite."

"No, because you were always his favorite!"

Hinata froze, "What?"

Hanabi rolled her eyes, turning and leaning against the wall beside the window, her lavender gaze locked on her sister, "Father always adored you. You look just like Mother. You sound just like Mother. You have Mother's personality, or at least you did as a child. Father saw you as the true heir to Mother's legacy as the Hyuuga that sought to change the clan. I was just her killer. A born killer, he once told me. That was what I was condemned to be because she died for me and not for you. I was pushed to be the way I am, this cynical thing that I am, because he didn't want you to end up like this. I was a proxy for you, just an expendable shield. The branch house was better off than this."

"That's a little extreme. You don't have a curse seal. That's proof enough that Father loved you."

"No, it's proof that he wanted me to be the worst of positions," she responded bitterly, "You have no idea what it's like to walk in your own home, to be treated like the heiress that you are forced to be when everyone knows that you're just a slave to your own sister. My job was to always watch over you. I was to never surpass you, but to stand in between you and danger at all times. That's why Father pretended to favor me."

Hinata looked confused, and she shifted in her seat, "That's Neji-nii's job."

Hanabi shook her head despondently, "No, it's not. Father always intended to remove the curse seal from Neji-nii. I was going to be discarded like a broken tool when he became the clan head after you were safely married off. I was just the second child, the unwanted one. You were the precious firstborn, but Neji-nii was the strong son that Father always wanted. I had no place in that family picture. I had no place in that family."

Her sister didn't respond for a few moments, and when she did, she was the flawless image of ageless decorum, "You always had a place, Hanabi. You just never asked for it."

"No, I didn't. It wasn't until Sakura-senpai accepted me into her little patchwork family that I had a place to belong," she snapped, moving towards the door in a flurry of mocha and wisteria, "I can still find her and bring her back. Things will be the way they're supposed to be."

"Hanabi, wait!"

She paused, her hand on the doorknob and she turned minutely towards the elder, "What?"

"I'm sorry," Hinata said, "I was out of line earlier. I shouldn't have snapped like that."

"Your point?"

She sighed, "I would like a second chance. Please, let me try to be the sister that I never was. I know I can't replace Sakura-chan, and I don't want to. Just let me find my own standing with you."

Hanabi turned all the way, facing her sister one last time, "Why the change of heart?"

"I was wrong. I just wasn't thinking," she answered promptly, "I really am sorry, Hanabi."

She snorted, "No you're not, but thanks for saying it."

And with that, Hyuuga Hanabi quit the company of Uzumaki Hinata with every intention of dragging the pinkette medic back to Konohagakure, even if she had to stoop to the level of asking an Uchiha for help.

* * *

A/N: I had so much fun writing this. Everything just came together when I finally got the chance to sit down and write.

A huge thank you goes to **Banira**, who not only beta'd this chapter, but also the most recent of _Scarlet Flower_, all in one day. That is amazing.

A second, but equally huge thank you goes to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, or placed this story among his or her favorites. You are the reasons that I keep writing.

_Give Hanabi some sympathy and review, please._

_Hikari Adams_


	6. Chapter Five: Goodbye, Apathy

_**All Fall Down**_

_Chapter Five_

_Goodbye, Apathy_

* * *

Many things had changed Hanabi's life, and these things tended to come in threes. These trinities tended to be words.

_Hinata is heir. You are superfluous. Give up, kid_…and so on. Words that had crushed her life over and over again made up much of her memory. There were, however, some words that could bring hope and light to her life.

_We found her_.

It was the string of words that came from Sasuke's lips when they met at Ichiraku, almost a year after the investigation began. It was the string of words that made her jump up, startling the people around her, and throw her arms around his neck in relief. It only lasted as long as her loss of composure lasted, but it was enough of a shock to keep Hanabi in an alert state for the remainder of the day.

They had found Sakura.

When Sasuke, the stoic Uchiha, had smiled and said their mutual friend had been found; Hanabi had been ecstatic. Sakura was within their grasp. They could bring her home. The fact that the medic was the wind, forever there but never truly _there_, slipped out of her mind. Instead, she focused on the fact that their friend—their mother, sister, almost lover—was coming back.

According to the intelligence report, she had settled in a quiet, non-shinobi, community in the rural Kusa. She had dyed her hair a darker pink, and the photograph showed it to be almost the color of the sunset. She was working as a doctor, treating the elderly and the young alike. A few discreet inquiries had been made by the returning ANBU who stumbled across her sanctuary. Her name was Wakahisa Natsumi, and she lived on the outskirts of the agricultural village. It had taken Sasuke's muted explanation that she lived on the edges of the hamlet because she wanted to keep the fighting out of the town to calm the lavender eyed girl.

Still, she knew where she was, and that was all Hanabi needed to smile again.

The ANBU vest itched, but Naruto had made it clear that they were going in as black ops on this one. Her mask, a cat in honor of her pink-haired friend's personality, sat to the side of her head, the porcelain freezing her scalp with icy anticipation.

"Sasuke," the blonde Hokage explained, "I don't want you to fight her. I know she's expecting a fight, but please try to avoid conflict."

The Uchiha hissed, "Like you really needed to tell me that."

"You're right," the fox conceded, "Just be careful. Sakura-chan is likely going to attack the two of you first. That's part of why Hanabi is going. She's a Hyuuga, and a very talented one at that. She'll be able to calm Sakura-chan."

Hanabi fumed a little at the comment. Shikamaru had said she was going because she was Sasuke's partner on the investigation. Her clan, the winter twilight she had discarded in favor of the loving spring morning, was not her identity, nor was it the limit of her ability. She had already resolved to not use her kekkei genkai against her beloved mentor. Her terrible eyes of frozen lavender would not be used to land the lethal brushes of a hand upon the medic. No being could make her go back on her word.

As the two men finished speaking, Hanabi smirked at the blonde, "Naruto-san?"

"Yes?" he asked turning his full attention to the only female present.

She smiled, a sickeningly sweet expression she had learned from the pinkette master, "Please tell my sister to give up. She's never going to succeed, regardless of what she'd like to think."

Naruto was confused, and reasonably so. Hanabi knew Hinata wasn't going to let her slightly naïve husband know the full extent of the Hyuuga taint. Blood was bad between the clan's members, and outsiders did not need to know that. Even Hinata, the indigette kunoichi who broke every rule in that wretched leather-bound notebook of iron shackles, knew not to discuss it. It didn't really matter, because Hanabi knew Naruto would pass the message on, perhaps hoping for an explanation that would never come.

Hinata's various pleadings for reconciliation might end for fear that the younger daughter might 'slip up' and let an outsider know of their quarrels.

As the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, their clans bitter enemies of days long gone, ran beside each other, the forest was silent. It seemed almost as if the world were holding her breath, waiting to see the outcome of the confrontation.

The mask felt heavy over Hanabi's face. She wondered idly if the burden of wearing it was a part of Sakura's reasoning behind her departure. She wanted to know what had triggered it, and what it had been like to live with that knowledge.

Perhaps she was halfway to understanding.

On the first night of their journey, when they settled down to plan, Hanabi had found Sasuke staring intently at the dancing flames. She followed his line of sight, watching as the myriad shades of reds and blues blended together in an intricate ballet that predated humankind. It was magical, the way the fire moved. It bent occasionally, but always came back up. It never flickered, never threatened to die. The wind and the blaze worked in tandem, always complicating the simple and mesmerizing dance.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, taking a seat next to the broken man of shadow and light.

Sasuke was like the fire, where Sakura was the water, Hanabi realized. He was intense, and sometimes she felt as if she would be burned if she moved to close. He was unforgiving and harsh, but at the same time there was a level of warmth and comfort if one stayed far enough away. He was destructive, both to himself and to those around him. He was a blend of colors, both dark and light, and together they made him a painting that ripped at the soul. He was fleeting, too, she had noticed. He was always somewhere, but not always where he could be seen. He was complex and fragile like a flame in the unrelenting wind. Hanabi had often wondered if the wrong move would break him completely since he seemed to exist on the edge of nonexistence.

Sakura, so like the wind, was more water. She could heal and destroy, like the raging floods and the cleansing rain. She was relatively constant, but she changed her patterns every so often. With every major shift, like the river to an earthquake, she altered her ways. She was in a constant cycle of destruction and salvation to herself, but she affected those around her like a ripple in a glass of water. She was seemingly one color, but a closer look would always reveal a violent mix of blues and greens. Occasionally, Hanabi had spotted a muted grey and sometimes something much darker. She was always there, even when she wasn't, like the water vapor in the air. She was complex, yes, but never fragile. She might disappear for a while, but everyone remembered her. Like a river gone dry, there would always be something to remember her by. She was firmly rooted among the living of the world.

Hanabi was nothing compared to the two incredibly intricate humans she was working with. On one hand, there was Sasuke, the man that she couldn't solve. Any number puzzle could be given to her, and she could solve it even if Shikamaru couldn't. Yet the raven-haired shinobi was beyond her comprehension. On the other hand, there was Sakura. She was something that grew more complex and harder to understand with each passing breath. Hanabi had long given up comprehending everything about the medic. She just wanted answers to her questions, and that was all she had resigned herself to learning.

Between the two, Hanabi was afraid she'd vanish into oblivion.

"Do you really want to do this?" his voice, hushed like velvet and dark like midnight silk, reached her ears.

"I don't understand."

He looked away from the kaleidoscope flames to face her, "We could always lie. Naruto would understand if we told him the mission was a failure."

She could easily see that he didn't want to go any further with their assignment. She wondered what he was more afraid of: Sakura's unwillingness to return or the possibility that she might be happy.

A pang of pain ran through Hanabi, a harsh clenching of her heart. She knew it was all in her mind, but it felt physical. She cried out softly, one hand going to her heart as the other covered her mouth.

It was a possibility that she, in all her brilliance, had never considered.

What if they found Sakura happy? What if she was smiling in a way that she hadn't in years? What if she was laughing without reservation? What if she was better off with out them? Were they really doing the right thing?

The questions clung to her heart, making it heavy enough for her to fear a broken back.

"Is this what it feels like to be you?" she asked, "All these questions weighing down. Is it really this painful?"

He smiled ruefully, "You get used to the pain after a while."

"But what if—"

"Stop," he ordered softly, "Don't go into the 'what ifs'. They'll only make it worse. Enough of the questions are 'what ifs'. You don't need to think about it."

She bit back a harsh laugh, "You mean this is never going to go away? Perhaps I want to live my life free of these chains."

"Give up, Hanabi. It's never going to happen," he spoke in a darker tone, the bitterness covering it like dark chocolate over sour cherries, as his attention went back to the fire, "You'll always be wondering. Even when you're not thinking about it, it'll be at the edges of your mind. This is something you will never escape. If you wanted to be free of this, then you shouldn't have joined the team."

Chills ran up her spine, and she leaned closer to him, placing one small hand against his arm. She almost recoiled at the touch, though he made no sign of acknowledging her. His skin was searing, and she could feel the frantic pulse beneath the alabaster flesh. He was just as nervous as she was, but it was tainted. There was something darker lurking at the edges of his emotions.

She leveled her breathing before speaking tentatively, "We're not discussing Sakura-senpai anymore, are we?"

He didn't reply, but he didn't need to. Hanabi had already figured out that he had slipped away from the medic, his mind turning back to his family and the broken mess they made in memory.

"Why does it matter?"

Her hand tightened its grip on his arm, "You can't hang onto the past. Trust me, I've tried. All you can do is move forward and try to make things right when history inevitable repeats itself. You have a chance to save her this time. I'm not sure what from, but you at least have the opportunity. Even if you can't save her, you'll have the chance to say goodbye. I know it hurts. I can feel the pain too. You don't have to be afraid to show that this is hurting you."

It seemed as if something broke in that moment, Hanabi would later reflect. Of course, she had known that her partner was under more stress than he should have been. He was balancing the investigation with his struggle to keep his composure. It was only a matter of time until something gave.

It was the investigation.

The normally stoic Uchiha cracked, his body shifting to bury his head in his hands. He wasn't crying, but Hanabi had a feeling that he would have been, had he still had the ability. He finally lifted his head again, leaning back against the tree as he stared up at the frost-like pattern of the leaves against the sky.

"A shinobi never shows his emotions."

Hanabi's slap echoed through the forest, a red mark gracing his cheek. She snarled, almost defensively, "That's not an excuse! Hinata already tried that with me, and I'm not letting you get away with it. You don't believe that. Sakura-senpai never did, and because of her you left that behind. You said goodbye to apathy years ago. There's no way your relationships with Sakura-senpai or Naruto-san would have survived if you hadn't."

"I think I understand," he muttered.

"Understand what?"  
He made a sound that was somewhere between a dark laugh and a cry, "My aniki. I never understood why he remained so cold. Even around people he genuinely cared about, he was detached. Now I understand. He used apathy to avoid the pain. If he could trick himself into believing he didn't care, then he couldn't be hurt if something went wrong."

She shook her head, "You are not your brother. You don't have to use apathy to escape anything. Sometimes it's better to face something than to try and run away."

"My father told me not to follow in his footsteps," he whispered, "Itachi, I mean. I never realized that I was doing the exact opposite. I've been slowly turning into a second him as the years go by."

"Sasuke?" she questioned, dropping the habitual 'san' from his name.

He finally looked at her, his cobalt eyes set off by the red handprint, "You know my relationship with my brother. What's yours with your sister?"

She hesitated, "I think we should go to sleep."

She had said it with a finality in her voice that said the conversation was over, but as she stood to leave, Sasuke wrapped his hand around her arm, pulling her back to the ground, "Don't run away, Hanabi. I know something's not right. I'm a second child too, remember?"

"But you weren't treated as a princess, only to be cast away in favor of your inferior cousin and failure sister," she shot.

He nodded, "So that's what this is about. The Hyuuga clan has continually passed you up for positions and opportunities within the family. Why?"

She made a face, not quite disgust and not quite sorrow, "Because Neji-nii is the son they always wanted, but Hinata is the living memory of the woman they had placed so much expectation on. I'm just the plain one. I might be talented, but I was never on their level. I was too much of a robot. One of my other cousins used to tease me on rainy days, saying I would rust if I went outside."

"That's cruel," he remarked coolly, "I was pressured to take Itachi's place when they realized they couldn't control him."

Hanabi laughed a little without mirth, "I was him. I was the perfect one they couldn't control all the way."

Sasuke's gaze flickered quickly to her before returning to the fire, "I kind of understand why Itachi left. He was pushed beyond what he was mentally prepared for at his age. He just snapped. You, however, have always been old enough to deal with the clan and its pressures. What made you snap?"

"I didn't snap like he did. I didn't break all ties with the clan. No Hyuuga ever does. There are so many of us that the world sees us as interchangeable," she explained, "And unless you're Neji-nii or Hinata, you are interchangeable. I just began to quietly rebel, occasionally staying with Sakura-senpai, Tenten-san, and every so often I would stay with Temari-san when she was here. I once stayed with Anko-san because everyone else was gone. Shizune-san took me in once. To be completely honest, I mostly lived with Sakura-senpai. She was nicer than all the others, and she'd treat me the way I had always wanted to be treated."

"That makes no sense."

She sighed, "My mother died giving birth to me. That's why you've never met her. Hinata doesn't like to talk about, so only a few people know what happened. As a result, I grew up with only my father's care. Hinata was given to nurses and the like because she was the first born, and the rightful heir. I was just the expendable daughter. I had never been treated as a child. I had never known what it was like to have someone actually care whether or not I was properly fed or got enough rest."

"And Sakura did that," he finished for her, "After I let her, she was the same way with me. I know she did the same thing to Naruto, Sai, and even Kakashi. It's just the way she is."

Hanabi nodded minutely, "That's right. When I began to break free, she gave me a place I could vent and relax; someplace I could feel safe. I kind of miss that. That kind of security is really nice."

"Hanabi, you do know you can come to my place if you need to talk."

"I don't want to bother you."

He rolled his eyes, "Hanabi, I have nothing better to do. Besides, we're still pouring over Sakura's surprisingly extensive records and you practically live there. If you need to talk, just talk. Kami knows I've put up with worse from Naruto and Hebi."

She stiffened slightly beside him. In the year they had been working together, he had never said the name of his former team, or the individual members. If they had appeared in a conversation at all, it was because Hanabi had brought them up.

She finally relaxed when it appeared as if he hadn't realized what he had said. She smiled softly, "I'll remember that."

"We'll reach the village in the morning."

"I know."

They were just stalling the inevitable. Eventually, they would have to succumb to sleep, only to leave behind the night that was more loving than the rising sun. To them, the ascent of the sun meant a journey that neither wanted to complete. With the rising sun, they would find the missing medic who turned a Hidden Village upside down.

With the rising sun, they would potentially find the answers to questions that they did not want answered.

* * *

A/N: It's a transition, what can I say? This is has been building for a while. Those of you who have read 'Black Ribbon' should know that this is the first encounter with Konoha, if that gives you an idea of where this is in the timeline.

A huge thank you goes to **Banira**, as always, for being so understanding when I send her two long chapters at the same time.

Other huge thank you goes to: **Quiet Moon, katieoso, Blackscarlet47, Spirit Seer, Kinkatia, VIC, talapadme, SpeedDemon315, xXHyuugaSakuraXx, SilverMoon888, Saikagas**

_Hanabi needs a shrink and so does Sasuke. Sadly, Konoha's psychiatrists are the worst paid in the Shinobi Nations. Please help correct this and prevent a second Uchiha Madara. All you have to do is push the lilac button at the bottom of the screen._

_Hikari Adams_


	7. Chapter Six: Shadows on the Wall

_**All Fall Down**_

_Chapter Six_

_Shadows on the Wall_

* * *

Hanabi wandered through the little village on her own, a simple henge hiding her Hyuuga features and ANBU uniform. As a young woman with brown hair and brown eyes, she could move easily around the hamlet without raising suspicion in the green yukata the jutsu had given her. Her eyes, lavender behind the mirage, were furtively searching the populace for her pink-haired friend.

In the end, the ANBU hadn't been careful enough, and Naruto hadn't checked the date on their report. They were nearly half a year after the report was sent, but Naruto's organizational skills were worse than Tsunade's. Somehow, Sakura had managed to find out that Konoha was sending Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hanabi after her, and she had fled the little village. 'Wakahisa Natsumi' had relocated nearly five months before their arrival, according to the previous villagers. None of them had known where she went, and in the end, Sasuke had chosen the most likely village. It was a small farming community not far from where she had been, and most of the inhabitants were retired soldiers. Not shinobi, but normal guards from palaces and other important sites.

Sasuke had decided to start at the other side of town, and Hanabi was finding her growing apprehension over whether or not their actions were right threatening to overwhelm her. Without the distraction that Sasuke gave, his ability to predict her thoughts as mirroring his own, she was at a loss of how to cope.

She was a Hyuuga. She never failed. She was never overcome.

But Sakura was proving that this was wrong. Hanabi was human, just like the pinkette. She cared, and she hurt. She couldn't plan everything out. She couldn't sit quietly on the sidelines, a silent observer among the pain and suffering she caused. She couldn't stand her job, she was quickly realizing. A shinobi was an instrument to bring about peace, and yet all she had known was warmongering. At nineteen, Hanabi was more than familiar with death and nightmares. What she was not familiar with, however, was the gentle sunshine of a carefree summer day. She didn't know what it meant to relax and just be normal.

Hinata remembered. As the eldest daughter of the family and the spitting image of their beloved mother, Hiashi had made sure that his darling knew what peace was. She existed in the sunlight, her indigo locks reflecting the light that never graced her sister's life. Hinata had had the opportunity to laugh and smile. She had the free childhood of playtime and naptime. Her life had been full of color from the very beginning.

In comparison, Hanabi's life was all paper and ink, the books she had found buried behind the scrolls in the expansive Hyuuga library. She hadn't learned to smile until she was ten, and she didn't laugh until she was twelve. She had known nothing but death, and the sunlight, that gentle summer caress, had never reached her in the gloom. Her life had been nothing but black and white. She had never seen anything brighter than white until she met Sakura.

Now she was nineteen and on her own in an unfamiliar world overflowing with amazing things both good and bad. She had an odd friendship with Sasuke, and she was slowly coming to terms with the world. As a seasoned kunoichi, Hanabi had never really considered what the meaning of life was. She had never stopped, paused in her bloodshed existence, to think about each soul that came and went. She had never lingered on the very pulse of life in the world, that energy that lit the skies and made the landscape turn green in the spring. She had never contemplated the reason rivers ran or birds flew.

Out here, in the bucolic landscape of Sakura's haven, she couldn't help but wonder a little.

"Fresh fish!" an old man called off to the side.

Hanabi sighed. She had wanted to avoid actually speaking to the citizens, as she was relatively certain that they would be extremely protective of the runaway Sakura. She knew Konoha would be, had the situation been reversed. A medic was a valuable thing in the countryside. One as talented as Sakura was something nearly sacred.

"Hello," she greeted, smiling through her henge as she approached the hoary fisherman. He was dressed simply in brown and green, his frizzy hair a rough silver. He was clean shaved, she noticed, and his amiable smile was welcoming to the winter twilight.

"Hello there," he smiled a little wider, his hazel eyes closing briefly, "Can I interest you in some fish? We have good trout this time of year."

She examined the catch, trying not to recoil at the thought of eating another being. She had fought against the feeling, but the deeper into Sakura's mind that the investigation brought her; she was finding it harder and harder to consume meat. The sanctity of life was something the pinkette had held in high regard. The change in ideals the Hyuuga was suffering through had brought about a similar view. Just the week before, she had nearly been sick while on a mission with her former team. All that had happened was the smell of cooking fish.

"It does look nice," she hoped it didn't sound like she wanted to wretch, looking at the dead.

He laughed a little, "You would get along better with my wife. Her mother was a terrible cook, and now Mayu-chan can't stand the stuff."

"For a fisherman, that must be hard," Hanabi supplied.

He shrugged, "It's not that bad. I'm Sato Takahiko, by the way."

"Akiyama Shinju," she supplied.

"So what's a young girl like you doing alone out here?" he asked, hazel eyes full of concern, "I've never seen you around, so I'm going to assume that you're from a different village. It's dangerous to be out here alone, you know. Kusa isn't exactly the most secure country in the world."

"I'm actually looking for a doctor," she lied effortlessly, somehow faking a blush, "My sister is ill, and our village's doctor can't help her. I was sent here to see if there was someone here who could help."

The man stiffened, his cheerful expression fading for a moment, "We have a doctor, yes, but she doesn't like to treat outsiders."

Hanabi tried to look demure, a brown-haired and brown-eyed version of the old Hinata, "Do you think she would make an exception? My sister desperately needs help, and my family is too poor to send for a shinobi medic."

"Yukimura-sensei might not be here," he tried, "She's been leaving periodically to fetch herbs and other supplies before the winter sets in. Since no one is sick or injured, she may have gone out today."

"Yukimura-sensei?" Hanabi tried to quell her racing heart. The ANBU had given the name Wakahisa Natsumi, but Hanabi knew Sakura would have changed the name as soon as she switched locations.

Yukimura had been her grandmother's maiden name.

He nodded, "Yukimura Megumi. She came to us about five months ago. Mayu-chan had broken her arm, and it was Yukimura-sensei who healed her."

"Do you know where I can find her?"

He frowned a little, but stepped to the back of his little booth. His warm voice could be heard, a gentle lull of thunder, and moments later, a small woman stepped out. Her white hair was pulled back, her features rounded and warm. She smiled in greeting at Hanabi, a gap between her front teeth. Her blue eyes twinkled warmly, and Hanabi let a real smile break through her features. This woman was kind, she could see, and a pang of crimson regret went though Hanabi.

This woman trusted her blindly, believing she was just a poor farmer's daughter sent to retrieve a doctor for her ailing sister.

"Take some fish," her husband smiled brightly, "We've got way too much, and I'm sure Yukimura-sensei would like something other than the dried meat she has."

Sato Mayu grinned, no cares marring the expression, "Shinju-chan, isn't it?"

"Yes," she answered meekly, trying to cover the growing excitement, "Thank you for your help, Sato-san."

The old woman took the basket her husband handed her. She shuffled out from the little booth, beckoning the kunoichi to follow her, "Yukimura-sensei is such a kind heart. I'm sure she'll help you. Who knows, that young man of hers might be kind enough to escort the two of you back to your village."

They were nearing the outskirts of the hamlet when the words left the woman's mouth. Hanabi's heart dropped a little further, her stomach suddenly twisting. She whispered, "Her 'young man'?"

"Yes," Mayu smiled brightly, "He showed up shortly after she did. It was late at night, and I was almost asleep. I had been over at her house for a check-up, and a storm kicked up, so I had stayed. That's why I saw him when he showed up. They seemed to know each other, and I remember that she had told him something after walking right up to him and placing her hand over his eyes."

"Do you remember what the diagnosis was?"

She shook her head, "I was never very sure of what it was, but considering the way I've seen them interact sometimes, I assume he's either blind or almost there."

Hanabi, fighting off the sinking of her broken optimism, managed to maintain the façade of a small-town girl, "What's he like?"

"Shinju-chan!" the elderly woman mocked a scandalized tone. Hanabi could tell that Mayu wasn't upset about the question, and had merely dismissed it as an isolated girl's wish for something to make her mundane life more exciting, "He's quite handsome, if you must know. He's slightly taller than Yukimura-sensei, but he's quite a bit shorter than my Takahiko. He has black hair, flowing longer than mine is when I let it down. It's tied back, and his eyes are so feminine and beautiful. It'd be a shame if he went blind. His eyes are the color of a moonless night. I can't imagine them clouded with blindness.

"He helps out around her home. Yukimura-sensei can handle most things by herself, but I've noticed that sometimes she forgets to look out for herself. Even if he is having problems with his eyesight, he's quite perceptive. In fact, he was the one who asked if we had a surplus of fish once. Apparently she's not eating right, and hasn't been for a while. It would seem that there's some sort of family dilemma that she's being pulled into constantly, even though the poor dear wants to stay out of it."

Hanabi had never liked the old civilian women in Konoha. They were all gossips like Mayu, but she was slowly realizing that the crones were gold mines of information. She wondered, for a moment, if the intense Uchiha would have been able to pull such valuable information from the woman.

If felt like ropes had been tied around her lungs. Something was keeping the air from flowing properly, the pain burning through her chest. The world spun, and only her kunoichi training kept her from losing control of the henge and falling over. As her fears had dictated, Sakura had found someone to care about her, and she had found some measure of happiness.

The description of the man, and the thought of Sasuke, brought forth only one name. She could feel Sasuke's borrowed bingo book weighing heavily in the concealed weapon's pouch. They had journeyed to that little village, searching in hope to bring Sakura back to Konoha. Their objective was to bring a beloved kunoichi back to her home without punishment. If Sakura's 'young man' was in fact an S-class missing-nin, then there was no way she could return.

In fact, Itachi was supposed to be dead. The Akatsuki had stopped sending him on missions years ago, and Hoshigaki had implied that the infamous clan killer was no longer among the living.

The council was searching for a reason to kill Sakura. They were famous for their intense hatred of Itachi.

Hanabi's eyes burned, her feet moving mechanically.

"Shinju-chan," Mayu called from somewhere ahead of her, "I'll just go inside and put the fish away. Yukimura-sensei might be around back in the herb garden. You should check there."

She nodded, snapping back to reality. The home was small and cozy, but not traditional. Ivy grew over the windows and the wall, curling up onto the roof. Flowers bloomed around the perimeter, bringing the house a sense of life Hanabi had never seen before. It was just like Sakura, warm and inviting, but at the same time strange and easily misunderstood. The people of the village saw the little home as a place of refuge. Hanabi saw it as a place of pain.

With Mayu safely inside and distracted, she dropped the henge. The ANBU moved around to the back of the house, pearly eyes sweeping over the garden. Herbs grew in abundance, somehow thriving in the shade of the gargantuan trees that held the home in a loose embrace.

A kunai kissed her neck gently, the metal unforgiving in the hands of the healer.

"What are you doing here, Hanabi?"

She turned carefully, lavender meeting jade for the first time in over a year, "Sakura."

The medic looked better than ever. Her headband was gone, the sign of loyalty replaced by a black ribbon that set off the brightness of her crimson hair. Hanabi frowned at that. She had always adored the cherry blossom pink, but could sympathize with the need to hide. Her eyes, still as green as new leaves, were cold as they faced the younger ANBU. Still, the Hyuuga could see the relief and tranquility that she had found away from Konoha. Her clothes were plain, a simple blue yukata covering her skin, the obi a gentle ivory.

Sakura looked right at home in the woodland setting.

"I'm not going back," her voice was firm, a tone Hanabi remembered from overheard arguments with Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan," she pleaded, "Please come home."

The medic withdrew the kunai, moving to stand on the other side of the lavender patch, just meters away from her former colleague, "I'm sorry, Hanabi-chan, but I'm needed here."

"You're needed in Konoha!"

"No, I'm not," she explained, jade eyes apologizing. Her tone, however, remained maternal, as if speaking to a stubborn child, "I'm just a medic. Even if there is a shortage, there is still someone there to take my place. Medics are expendable. We always are. That's why I put off your training for as long as I could. I was hoping you would change your mind and decide to go down another path."

"You're not expendable!" the Hyuuga's voice rose, snapping instead of pleading. She knew Konoha had done more damage than good to the woman before her, but she knew that nothing would change if the green-eyed storm stayed away. Konoha needed to change, that much she knew. Naruto couldn't do it alone. No one could. Hanabi had worked hard to push down the thoughts of those lost in the wake of Sakura's departure, but they bubbled to the surface with her flaring sorrow, "You're not there. It's like no one can function without you. Naruto-san won't touch ramen. Sai-san can't bring himself to paint anything. Hatake-san hasn't been seen with an orange book since you left. Tsunade-sama won't touch sake," she hesitantly stepped forward, reaching out to touch the older kunoichi's arm, only for Sakura to shy away, "Sasuke-san misses you. I miss you."

Sakura smiled faintly, reaching over to rest her hand on Hanabi's arm, "I can't come back, Hana-chan. You know this."

"That's a lie!"

"I'm needed out here," she explained, "Whether it's to treat a child who has caught a cold or to help a man who has lost his sight, I am needed out here."

"But why?" Hanabi demanded, "You could do those things in Konoha!"

"With the council breathing down my neck?"

The Hyuuga scoffed, "If I can survive my clan, you can survive the council."

"It's not the same," Sakura breathed, "The conditions I had to work in meant that I was restricted to emergency cases. You are still so young. You haven't seen the bloodshed I have. You don't know what people can do to each other. You know rumors, stories, but you have never seen the real thing. As dark as your life is, it is still so much better than others'. Your life isn't built upon vain sacrifices like mine, or even Naruto's. Sasuke's life is built on a base of blood. Yours is built with light, regardless of what you might think."

"Sakura, please," she insisted, "Other medics are replaceable. You aren't."

She shook her head, "Ask the council. I could easily be replaced by Ino or you. You know what it's like to be superfluous, Hanabi. That's what your clan was like for you. All of Konoha is like that for me. I'm not needed. It might hurt for a while, but their lives will continue to go on without me."

"And our lives are supposed to go on if we're ordered to kill you?" she shot back, lavender eyes disbelieving, "Sakura, please tell me that 'young man' Mayu-san was talking about isn't who I think he is."

A broken smile tugged at the older medic's lips, her viridian eyes solemn, "He needs me, Hanabi. More than Konoha ever did. Everyone in this village needs me more. Konoha has hundreds of medics serving her. This area only has me. I'm begging you, Hanabi, just let me stay."

"He's a criminal," she protested.

"There are things you don't understand. He is not the man Konoha wants him to be."

Hanabi pinched the bridge of her nose with her spare hand, "I had a falling out with my sister over you."

"You should have reconciled."

"Why?" Hanabi snapped, "I found a family. I found an older brother in Neji-nii. I found a cousin in Sai-san. I found Kami-knows-what in Sasuke-san. I found a mother in you."

"And you should take care of them. Leave me here. In time they will need you more than they need me. They will come to realize that I was never needed. I never belonged in Konoha," she smiled briefly, softly killing Hanabi's hope, "Eventually children have to let go of their mothers and move on with their own lives."

"You always belonged in Konoha."

Hanabi's voice was firm, but the Hyuuga couldn't find the faith to truly back up her words. Did Sakura belong in Konoha? Did she belong in Konoha? What about Sasuke? Did every shinobi feel the exhilarating freedom that came with leaving the village gates, if only for a little while?

"You know that's not true," Sakura called the lie easily, jade boring into lavender, "Surely you've begun to see it. Konoha is tainted, Hanabi. I can't survive there. You can, because you're above it. The taint isn't the foundation of your strength. There are people you can truly trust in Konoha."

The brunette choked back her rising fury, "So you can't trust me? What about Sasuke-san? You know he came with me."

"I've always trusted you, Hanabi," she whispered, "I've always trusted Sasuke. That's why I'm trusting the two of you to _let me go_."

"And the people I can trust? If you can't trust them, then how can I?"

"Sasuke," she answered easily, "He'll take care of you. And Sai-kun. Shikamaru can be trusted. Kiba, though he doesn't act like it, can be trusted."

"What about Naruto-san? Hinata said he's taking this hard."

She bit her lip, "Naruto is the Hokage. I know you don't understand it now, but just trust me when I say things are better this way, Hanabi. I would only destroy things in Konoha. I can't fix anything there. I can't even fix myself."

Hanabi tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but to no avail, "Why didn't you come to me for help? You always helped me when I needed it. Why couldn't you come to me this time? Sasuke-san would have helped you as well. Sai-san could have helped. Why didn't you tell us, Sakura?"

Tears spilled over, like raindrops falling from leaves. Sakura somehow remained composed, save the salty drops slowly falling down her cheeks, "Can you blame me for wanting to protect you? All of you are so complicated, and complicated things tend to be fragile. Sasuke and Sai are already so broken. I didn't want to hurt them any more than I had to. And you, Hanabi, you are so young, so innocent. I didn't want to be the one to break you."

"What if I'm already broken?"

"Not in the same way we are."

She scoffed, trying to hold back her own tears, as the lump in her throat grew, "Sakura-chan, I don't understand you. Come back to Konoha, please. I know what you're trying to do, and you don't have to take this guilt by yourself. You're shouldering too much. Let us help you."

"I'm sorry, Hanabi," something akin to pride blossomed in her jade eyes, "You know, I always wanted you to call me '-chan'. I never thought I would get to hear it at a time like this."

"Naruto-san sent me, Sakura-chan," Hanabi had sworn to herself, silently sworn to Sasuke, that she wouldn't resort to it, but Sakura was leaving her no choice, "You know why. I will stop you if I have to."

"You'll close my chakra pathways?" her tone of voice was sad, Hanabi realized. Sakura knew she wouldn't do anything, but Hanabi knew the medic wouldn't fight her even if she did.

Was that right? Did she honestly have the right to force someone to do something they didn't want to when there would be no resistance? On any other mission, Hanabi might have been able to act, but on any other mission, the target would have fought for freedom. Sakura wouldn't fight.

Naruto had told them to be prepared in case the pinkette chose to use her monstrous strength. Hanabi slowly realized that that suggestion had come _through_ Naruto, but not _from _him. He knew she wouldn't fight. He had to know.

But what if he didn't?

The question burned into Hanabi's mind. What if the Hokage, both past and present, didn't know that Sakura would refuse to fight? Even Hanabi had been expecting some kind of physical combat. How much did they know about the woman before her if they thought she would raise a hand against them?

She loved them too much. The emotion was shining in the tears and beyond them in her eyes. She loved the people of Konoha, regardless of how many times they had hurt her. She had left, being selfish for once, to try and find her own happiness. In the end she had found people who needed her more. She had found people she needed, and though she loved the burning leaves, she wouldn't return.

Hanabi stilled. Was Sakura refusing to return because she was afraid of hurting them? She hadn't said it, but perhaps she had wanted to. Hanabi had always found pride in the fact that her Byakugan was stronger than Hinata's, and she lacked Neji's blind spot. She didn't have their weaknesses. She could see everything they couldn't, but it was possible that she couldn't see everything others could see.

"What am I missing, Sakura-chan?" Hanabi asked softly, "What is it that I can't see?"

Sakura lightly squeezed Hanabi's arm, smiling wistfully. She leaned forward to whisper in the younger kunoichi's ear, "Take care of my boys, Hanabi."

She hadn't answered the question, and she was already gone by the time Hanabi realized that she had been preparing her escape from the beginning. She was out of sight, flying through the trees like the wind itself, and Hanabi was left alone.

Hanabi found that she couldn't move, couldn't give chase after the loving phantom of springtime. She sank to the ground instead, her knees hitting the soft earth, her lavender eyes seemingly blind to the world. How many times had she sworn to bring Sakura home? How many times had she told herself not to hesitate?

Sakura had asked Hanabi to take care of her boys. There was no question as to which 'boys' she had been speaking of, but the Hyuuga couldn't find it in herself to comply. She wanted to know just how Sakura expected her to do it, should she choose to. Those 'boys' of Team Kakashi wanted their sunlight with her dashes of pink and emerald. They didn't want the twilight of muddy brown and lavender pearl.

They wanted Haruno Sakura.

A twig snapped behind her, but the familiar tides of chakra alerted her to the presence long before then.

"I take it she got away."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-san."

His hand dropped to her shoulder as he knelt beside her, "It's okay. We came in here knowing we probably wouldn't get her back."

"I know," she whispered, tears breaking her voice, "But can you blame me for wanting to hope?"

"No," he answered, "I can't."

Hanabi took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. Sakura had shaken her, brought up hundreds of darker questions. For the first time, she was regretting her decision to join the investigation. If she hadn't joined, she would have remained in the dark. She wouldn't be learning what she was about Sakura, and she wouldn't be learning what she was about Konoha herself.

Her heart skipped, and she hoped the Uchiha beside her didn't notice. He had made it clear that while he was going to remain loyal to Konoha, if he knew about Itachi…

Through force of will alone, she managed to stifle the thought before it slipped past her lips. Sasuke couldn't know about Itachi. She doubted anyone he ran into would have told him about the elder Uchiha. The gossips in a small village were typically elderly women. They wouldn't give information like that to a young man, no matter how charming he was. Of the two, only she knew about the blind, or nearly blind, Akatsuki runaway.

She was nothing more than a little girl at that moment, struggling to go to sleep when the shadows on the wall were twisting into monsters that devourer peace. Hanabi had never felt so lost.

She only hoped Sasuke wouldn't hate her for her secret.

She forced a smile, "Let's go back. Naruto can't catch us on a lie if there isn't one to catch."

He stood up, helping her to her feet, "Do you know the woman in Sakura's home?"

"Sato Mayu," she answered, "She's the one who brought me here. She's leaving fish for Sakura to eat. She worries over her like a grandmother."

"It's easy to do that with her."

Sakura's words came back to Hanabi as they jumped away from the garden. Up in the trees, she finally responded, not caring if her companion heard her or not. Of course, she knew he could. He was always listening to her.

"It's easy to let her worry over us."

There was no question from him. They both knew whom she was talking about.

* * *

A/N: I'm extending the deadline for the SasuHana contest until 16 August 2008, which is about when I should be back. My profile has more information.

Thank you everyone who has reviewed, and I hope you like this, the currently longest installment of _All Fall Down_.

_Hanabi needs a diary, don't you think? Or would that be too dangerous in Konoha?_

_Hikari Adams_


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